A US occupation soldier mounts the US flag on a vehicle near the town of Tel Tamr, north Syria, on October 20, 2019. (AP)

To maintain its status as a world-class military force capable of conducting and winning a war against China, the US military must adjust three things, according to The Economist. The first is the armed forces themselves, specifically how and with what they battle.

The second is the defense industry, which has to shift its focus to newer, more creative enterprises. The third is the least understood and least likely to change, but it is critical to resolving everything else: the "pork-barrel politics" of defense expenditure.

The report notes that on the front lines in Ukraine, satellites and drones equipped with various sensors are constantly monitoring every inch of the battlefield, while artificial intelligence (AI) instantaneously analyzes the information they collect.

It is far simpler for either team to notice and attack anything that moves now than it was in the past, which is why massive, old-fashioned offensives have made so little progress.

America has had a significant role in these transformations as it assisted Ukrainian troops in developing more powerful and less expensive drones than those deployed in Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as an AI "kill chain" in which targets are recognized and targeted.

US enterprises, too, are at the forefront of this, as they visit Ukraine on a regular basis to assess the performance of their weaponry and make necessary adjustments.

Troops lack the necessary equipment and training to deal with a drone-infested battlefield. It takes America years to purchase weapons that evolve month after month.

The Pentagon, therefore, needs "a systemic overhaul" in how it engages, what it purchases, and how, as per the report.